1125 Chapline Street, Federal Building, Suite 3000 ● Wheeling, WV 26003
(304) 234-0100 ● Contact: Fawn E. Thomas, Public Affairs Specialist

March 5, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wheeling Resident Sentenced for Attempting to
Transfer Obscenity to a Minor

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA - A 29 year old Wheeling, West Virginia, resident was sentenced on March 5, 2012, in United States District Court in Wheeling by Judge Frederick P. Stamp.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced that: IAN WELSHHANS was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release. WELSHHANS entered a plea of guilty on December 19, 2011, to one count of attempting to transfer obscenity to a minor on August 8, 2011, in Wheeling. WELSHHANS, who is free on bond, will self-report to the designated Federal institution on April 5, 2012.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Randolph J. Bernard and was investigated by the West Virginia State Police-Bureau of Criminal Investigations.

This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.